The last mouse

They were called “The Mighty Mice” and “The Three Orange Mice” as they led the post-war Texas Longhorns to the NCAA basketball tournament in the 1946 and ’47 seasons.

Slater Martin led the University of Texas to a 26-2 record and a third-place finish in the 1947 NCAA basketball tournament. (E-N archive)

The diminutive but dynamic trio was coached by University of Texas Coach Jack Gray, who had returned from the war, and had been an All-American player for the Longhorns in 1936 and became head coach at the age of 25.

One of the Longhorn coaches, Billy Gilstrap convinced Slater Martin to attend the University of Texas because he could get a college education free on a basketball scholarship.

Slater had been called the best little man to ever play basketball in Texas. He was a star at Jefferson Davis High School in Houston and enrolled at UT before World War II interrupted his collegiate career as he was drafted and sent to San Diego. He served in the U.S. Navy as a gunner’s mate on a landing craft transporting U.S. Marines into the Pacific battle zones, which included Iwo Jima and other occupied islands.

When he returned to the collegiate world, he joined seven other veterans on Gray’s team that that advanced to the NCAA semi-finals in 1947 and lost to Oklahoma on a last second desperation shot from mid-court by the late Ken Pryor, who wasn’t much bigger than “Dugie,” a nickname derived from his middle name, Dugan.

Slater was a member of that famous trio given their “Mighty Mice” name by the late Jack Gallagher, legendary Houston sportswriter, because they were diminutive in size but could steal the ball faster than a hungry mouse searching for cheese.

The other two mice were Al Madsen, a native of Wisconsin and Ray Cox from Houston Lamar. Other teammates were sophomore Vilbry White from Prairie Lea, Texas, and the only non-veteran, John Hargis of Nacogdoches, Tom Hamilton from Dallas and John Lanngdon from Beaumont, who suffered severe frost bite in the Battle of the Bulge. The ranks of that great Horns quintet are shrinking all too rapidly and only one mouse remains. That’s Slater.

The Longhorns went 26 and 2 during Slater’s senior year, and he was drafted by the NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers. Slater became a hero in Minnesota with his aggressive defense and floor leadership. He made his pro debut in November of 1949 and his illustrious career lasted for 11 seasons.

He joined such legends as “Whitey” Skoog, Bud Grant, (yes, the long time coach of the Minnesota Vikings), All American Kansas star, Clyde Lovellette, Bob Harrison, Geoge Mikan, Jim Pollard and Lou Hitch.

He spent seven years with the Lakers where they won four NBA titles. Slater was traded to the St. Louis Hawks and joined close friends Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan and the Hawks also captured a championship.

“ Dugie” played until he was 35 but did not retire as a millionaire. As a matter of fact, he didn’t leave pro basketball with much money at all because in those years, salaries didn’t provide enough income to build hill top mansions or have a three-car garage to house sports cars and SUVs.

He played for three teams in the league and the highest salary he received was $19,000 toward the end of his career.

After retiring, he returned to Houston and opened what would have been a sports bar today, called Slater Martin’s on Ella Boulevard.

It was a restaurant and bar where sports fans and celebrities often visited. Slater had to file bankruptcy when a trusted friend and general manager mismanaged the restaurant.

In early 1967, Houston oil millionaire, T.C. “Nick” Morrow asked Slater to become coach with control of player signings and personnel for a team in a fledgling league called the American Basketball Association, or ABA, as we knew it.

Morrow offered Slater more money than he ever earned in the NBA, $35,000 annually. It was a gamble but there were some rich investors who vowed to successfully compete with the old and established NBA.

The Houston team was to be named the “Mavericks,” no relation to the current Dallas franchise, and some of the other franchises were the Anaheim Amigos, Pittsburgh Pipers, Minnesota Muskies, New Jersey Americans, Oakland Oaks and Dallas Chapparrals.

Unfortunately, after the team began its second season, Morrow tried to sell the team, filed for bankruptcy, and it was moved to Carolina.

Slater had been fired before the money drought, so he simply returned to another business venture and forgot about the ABA.

In 1981, the NBA selected him for the Hall of Fame. A deserving honor for a player who averaged almost 10 points a game, more than three rebounds and four assists per contest.

He is the only former ex-Longhorn basketeer to have his name immortalized at the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

In January of 2009, the University of Texas retired his jersey bearing the famous number 15. In a ceremony at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center, Slater was honored and praised in special pre-game ceremonies.

Martin and other players of his era made the NBA what it is today, a billion dollar business with mega-millions paid to even periphery players.

He receives $200 a month for each year he played in the NBA, which means he gets $2,200 a year, a mere pittance when you consider what today’s spoiled superstars are paid.

Now approaching 86 years in his tremendous life, Martin, who once resided in the exclusive Memorial area of Houston, lives in the house his mother had lived in located in an older and non-exclusive area near Jeff Davis High School.

As if he hadn’t experienced enough heartache with financial setbacks and bad luck, in 1995, his beautiful wife of more than 50 years, Faye, died of a heart attack. In 1999, the deteriorating wiring in the old house produced a spark and flames soon enveloped the structure. Slater and one of his sons, Dugan, barely escaped and young Martin was seriously burned.

Slater’s other son, James Henry, also lives in Houston and both boys are now in their 50s.

Everything was lost including all his NBA memorabilia and the four championship rings. No one in the NBA came to his rescue and none of the prized possessions were replaced. The old house has been re-built and is sits on stilts because it is in a Houston floodplain.

He is deeply grateful to Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, who presented Slater a championship ring when the Lakers won the title a few years ago. It’s worth more than nine thousand, and this time it is in a bank’s safety deposit box.

“Dugie” was a helluva basketball player, a darn good coach and a scratch golfer as well.

We shared some great memories and experiences in that first year of the ABA. It cut him to the core when the Mavericks lost … and they lost more than 45 games that season but still made the playoffs.

I’ll never forget one night at the Sam Houston Coliseum, Slater and an official by the name of Andy Hershock got into an argument at courtside, and before you could say “cheese,” Martin and Hershock were wrestling on the hardwoods.

Perhaps a carryover of that “Mighty Mice” spirit they displayed for the Longhorns on the basketball court in those post war years.

Our friendship continues today and what a privilege to have been involved with the last mouse from the hall of Longhorn legends.